"Hot Doug's: The Book" is an oral history of Sohn's high-end hot dog stand, which still draws crowds out the door for lunch. It's less about the sausages than the people who come to eat them, the people who serve them and even the guy who prints the order tickets. We learn about the fire that destroyed the first Hot Doug's location, Sohn's half-hearted stand against the now-defunct foie gras ban and his admiration for Madonna. Customers write about what they've learned while standing in line, what it's like to lunch with Rahm Emanuel and why they tattoo the restaurant's logo on their bodies.

Maybe we see a little too much of how the sausage gets made, so to speak, but it's a flaw of exuberance — easily forgivable in the same way as a friend who rambles on about a vacation because he had such a great time.